fic: Buon Natale [PG, Nico-centric]
Title: Buon Natale
Author: saturninepen
Written for: igrab
Rating: PG
Characters/Ships: Nico, Bianca, Hades/Maria, Sally/Paul, Percy; mostly Nico centric, with some Nico/Percy at the end if you tilt your head to the left and squint with bad lighting.
Warnings/Spoilers: Do spoilers for Titan’s Curse even count anymore?
Notes: I tried to keep angst out of it, but there’s some that slipped in anyway, but I hope it’s not too bad; I think the family/fluff helps balance it out :S It’s kind of just a general holidays/family type fic instead of following one prompt in particular, but Christmas in NYC and odd family...oddness could probably be blamed for at least some of it. I blame artemisrae for the idea of Sally loving Ella Fitzgerald’s Jingle Bells, so that detail was pretty much just borrowed without permission.
Also, my knowledge of Italian has been gleaned from Lady and the Tramp, Addams Family and Internet translators, so there are translations of what it’s supposed to say at the end.
“Are you sure you have everything?”
“Yes, Mamma, I’m sure.”
Nico blinked sleepily as Maria forced his arms through the sleeves of his coat, only half aware of the conversation she was having with Nonna. Bianca stood by the bag of gifts, clutching the doll Zia Cristina had given her earlier tightly to her chest with one hand and rubbing blearily at her eyes with the other while her mother finished buttoning up her brother’s clothes.
“Be careful going home, mia figlia” Nonna finished as Maria lifted Nico and reached for the bag. “The streets are icy.”
“Buona notte, Mamma,” Maria replied, kissing her mother’s cheek as she stepped out of the door.
The sharp cold of the December air was a harsh change from the peppermint and ginger scented warmth of Nonna’s apartment, and Nico squirmed against his mother’s chest, burying his nose in the crease between her neck and shoulder as the door shut behind them. The snow had stopped falling some time before, but the sidewalks were still icy and the wind was bitter where it found its way under their coats and gloves; even so, it wasn’t long before Nico was dozing fitfully in his mother’s arms, and by the time they’d reached their own apartment, even Bianca was swaying tiredly.
“Almost there, miei piccolini,” Maria promised, pressing a kiss to her son’s forehead as she turned her key in the lock.
Nico muttered in protest once they reached their room and Maria wrestled him out of his clothing and into his pajamas while Bianca dressed herself nearby, wanting nothing more than to curl up with his sister and his own gift - a stuffed toy dog - beneath their warm blankets and sleep.
“I know, Nico, I know,” she murmured as she snapped the last button shut on his nightshirt.
Bianca was in bed, still holding her new doll tightly, but Nico curled into her chest regardless, as he always did, and she pulled one arm free to wrap around his back as Maria handed Nico his dog, smiling as he wrapped one arm possessively around it, and pulled the blankets up to cover them.
“Buona notte,” she murmured, kissing each of their foreheads in turn. “Dormi bene e buon natale, miei piccoli.”
-
Nico grumbled in his sleep, rolling and burying his face in his pillow in a sleep induced haze; Bianca continued to sleep soundly next to him as the sound came again, drifting down the hall from the main room. He climbed out of bed, dragging the dog behind him by one ear, bare feet padding quietly on the cold floor as he wandered down the hall, following the sound of music from where Bing Crosby was crooning out of the Jackson-Bell sitting on the desk.
It took him a moment to recognize the tall figure dancing slowly with Maria in the middle of the room, her head tucked comfortably under his chin while they held each other and stepped together. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, still unnoticed by the couple as he stepped forward into the room.
“Papà?”
They stopped and turned to look at their son as he walked over to them and rubbed his eyes again.
“Nico,” Maria said, pulling away from Hades’ chest. “You should be sleeping, mio figlio.”
“I woke up,” he said, hugging his mother around her waist and staring up at Hades with wide eyes.
“Buon natale,” Hades greeted.
“Buon natale, Papà,” Nico said shyly, pressing into Maria’s skirt.
Maria bent to pick up him up as the next song began to play over the radio, the dog dangling awkwardly by its ear for a moment before she pulled it up for Nico to hold, and pressed against Hades as they began to dance again with the toddler clinging to her neck between them. The motion was soothing, nestled between his parents with Maria’s head tucked over his and pressed under Hades’ chin, rocking slowly from side to side in time with the music, and it wasn’t long before Nico’s jaw cracked open in a yawn. He shifted, nuzzling against his mother’s neck as his eyes dropped shut, swaying gently until the music and the dance finally lulled him back to sleep in his parents’ arms.
*
Sitting alone in Bianca’s dorm, Westover Hall was even creepier than it was during the school year, when the halls were full, but now, with nearly all of the students gone for the holidays, the emptiness of the school only added to its austerity. Given the circumstances, the holidays weren’t much to celebrate that year, but Bianca had managed to find a pair of candy canes which they had already split between them. The older di Angelo sibling held a small gift as well, carefully wrapped in pieces of hand decorated printer paper snuck from one of their classrooms, with Nico’s name printed meticulously in one corner.
Snow fell gently past the window, and as she handed Nico his present, she could just see the small snowman they’d built earlier smiling at them through a mouth built of pebbles. She had no doubt Dr. Thorn would tear it down the moment he saw it, but for the time being, it was one more thing to add to their makeshift holiday.
By the time she looked back to her brother, the paper was lying in shreds on the bed, and he was holding the Mythomagic Starter Kit she’d bought the last time they’d been allowed to go into the city like it was the most precious thing he’d ever set eyes on.
“Do you like it?” she asked. “I know it’s not much....”
Nico looked up at her and grinned widely, shifting so that he could press into her side and wrap his arm around her in a hug while maintaining his hold on the gift, like he was scared it would vanish if he didn’t hold on to it.
“It’s awesome,” he assured her, but his smile abruptly fell. “But I don’t have anything for you!”
“I don’t need any presents,” she said, and it’s cliched but it’s never been more true, even if it is coming from an eleven year old orphan girl. “Just as long as you’re happy and we’re together, that’s all I need.”
Nico gave her a look that clearly begged for her to cut the sap, because really, he may be her brother and she may be the only family he has left, but he’s a nine year old boy too, and on top of that he knows as well as she does that what they really need is a family again, someone to celebrate properly with, even if neither one of them wants to ruin the moment by admitting it.
Still, he was smiling as he pressed into her shoulder, and they were both smiling and laughing hours later when went outside to run around making snow angels and throwing snowballs at the windows even after Dr. Thorn found them and ordered them back inside, and Nico thinks that maybe Bianca was right, that maybe as long as they were together, they ‘d be able to manage, and everything would be as it should be.
*
After his exit from camp, where he watched the earth swallow the skeletons at his command, it wasn’t much of a surprise when the glimmering black helmet appeared over his head three days after Percy came back and Bianca didn’t.
“Son of Hades,” Minos smirked as he said it, as if they hadn’t known it already, and bent in a mock bow. “My lord.”
“Oh, shut up,” Nico frowned, and turned back to the pit, watching the last wisps of the spirit he’d summoned fade away back into the air.
It was Christmas Eve, he knew, but it was the sort of fact that had trickled into his mind as an afterthought and been dismissed as soon as it arrived; so far, all he’d received for Christmas was a dead sister and now his father claiming him as a formality, and with only the ghost of an ancient king as company, the holidays seemed like a minor detail in comparison.
“Why won’t she answer me?” he asked, kicking at a clump of dirt as the symbol over his head vanished completely.
“Perhaps it’s too soon,” Minos shrugged.
Nico crossed his arms and glared into the mess of soda and Big Macs floating in the bottom of the pit. Minos had found him the day after he’d run away from Percy, and he’d been trying to summon his sister ever since, but so far, all he’d managed to find was a large crowd of thirsty spirits for his trouble. In fact, other than Minos and the other ghosts of the dead, he hadn’t seen anyone since he’d left camp and stumbled across the opening to the Labyrinth.
He kicked at the clump of dirt again and scowled, because really, son of Hades or no, he’s only eleven and wandering around in the mythical Labyrinth with a dead king is only cool for the first day or so, and after that it’s only creepy and lonely. Christmas had always been something important for him, he knew - he couldn’t remember it, but he knew -- but when he was alone, it only felt like one more cut deepening the pain.
Nico stepped back against the back of a tombstone and slid to the ground, resting his forehead on his bent knees while Minos only sighed and vanished, leaving the son of Hades alone in the graveyard.
“This is not how my son should behave.”
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there when the voice cut through him, startling him. His head snapped up to stare at the tall, dark robed figure standing in front of him, and he scrambled to his feet awkwardly.
“I -“
“My son should not be pouting,” the man continued, folding his arms so that his hands disappeared into the folds of his robes. “He should be trying to set things right.”
He stared at Nico, daring him to argue, but the boy only stared, opening his mouth to say something and closing it again when he couldn’t find the words.
“Don’t do it again,” Hades finally said, and vanished almost before Nico had decided he was real in the first place.
He blinked, staring at the space the god had just been standing in, and rubbed his forehead tiredly, when the moonlight struck something lying in the grass where Hades had been.
Nico knelt and swore quietly when something sharp sliced his knee. There was a silver skull ring lying by his hand, and next to it was the long, flat shape of a sword blade, shiny black and razor sharp with a small, dark stain on the tip where he’d set his knee. He slipped the ring on his finger and stared at it as it glinted dully under what little light the moon offered before reaching for the sword, turning it and staring at his reflection in the black blade.
“I won’t, Dad,” he whispered.
*
“Come on, Nico! You can’t just sit around here and...do whatever it is you do! It’s Christmas!”
The son of Hades looked up from his book to where Percy was sprawled sideways across one of the spare beds, his face somewhere between begging and exasperated, and sighed. He dog-eared the page and closed the book with a snap, setting it aside and looked at Percy impatiently.
“If I say yes, will you go away?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“Besides, aren’t you getting a little old to just mope around camp during the holidays?” Percy continued like he hadn’t heard Nico’s question. “And Mom and Paul really want to see you, too.”
“N - wait, they do?”
“Duh,” Percy rolled to an upright position and rested his arms on the footboard of the bed. “Who do you think wanted me to invite you in the first place?”
Nico sighed again and uncrossed his arms, shoulders slumping in defeat.
“Fine,” he grumbled, trying to ignore Percy’s triumphant grin and failing. “What time is it tomorrow?”
-
The apartment was already warm with the smell of turkey and cinnamon and pine by the time Nico arrived, and Ella Fitzgerald’s Jingle Bells was ringing around the living room where Percy was sitting with a plate of cookies. Paul called a greeting from the kitchen as Sally opened the door, and Nico smiled in return as he hung up his snow flecked coat just in time for Sally to capture him in a hug around her pregnant stomach.
“It’s lovely to see you, dear,” she said, closing the door behind him. “Dinner should be ready any minute now, so you can just join Percy on the couch for a bit.”
Sally disappeared into the kitchen to help Paul while Nico collapsed on the couch next to Percy, stealing a cookie from the plate sitting on the coffee table, earning a squawk of protest and a brief scuffle over the cookies that remained before they settled down, leaning into each other comfortably while they reclined on the couch catching cookie crumbs with their chests until the oven timer announced the completion of the dinner bird.
“Percy, can you come help me with the turkey, please?” Paul called from the kitchen, his normally neat, professional appearance somewhat ruined by Sally’s apron and oven mitts.
Sally took Percy’s place on the couch as he left, sagging into the cushions with a sigh, and looked over at Nico.
“I’m glad Percy convinced you to come,” she said, one hand resting on her stomach. “It’s just been the three of us for Christmas since Percy and Annabeth split up. It’s nice having his other friends here, too.”
“Thanks for inviting me,” he said.
“Thank Percy,” Sally replied. “He was the one who suggested you come over in the first place; Paul and I are just glad to have you here.”
Nico glanced over to where Percy and Paul were struggling to pull the steaming turkey out of the oven without burning themselves or dropping it or falling over and only just barely kept from cocking his eyebrow. He’s still watching when they finally get the pan up on top of the stove and Percy looks up and catches his eye with a grin that spreads as soon as he reads the look on Nico’s face like he knows exactly what they were just talking about.
“Dinner’s ready!” Paul announced, oblivious to the boys as he cut into the turkey.
Nico helped Sally up off of the couch and they walked into the kitchen to fill their plates. Percy slipped behind Nico and nudged him with his shoulder while the son of Hades scooped a pile of mashed potatoes onto his plate, his grin still quirking the corners of his mouth.
“So I wanted you to be here tonight,” he said as they stepped sideways to make room for Sally to follow Paul out of the kitchen. “And to spend Christmas together. Is that really so bad?”
No, Nico thought, nudging Percy’s shoulder back with his own. No, it really isn’t.
mia figlia - my daughter
Buona notte - good night
miei piccolini - my pretty little ones
Buona notte...Dormi bene e buon natale, miei piccoli. - Good night...sleep tight, and merry Christmas, my little ones.
mio figlio - my son
Buon natale - Merry Christmas
Author: saturninepen
Written for: igrab
Rating: PG
Characters/Ships: Nico, Bianca, Hades/Maria, Sally/Paul, Percy; mostly Nico centric, with some Nico/Percy at the end if you tilt your head to the left and squint with bad lighting.
Warnings/Spoilers: Do spoilers for Titan’s Curse even count anymore?
Notes: I tried to keep angst out of it, but there’s some that slipped in anyway, but I hope it’s not too bad; I think the family/fluff helps balance it out :S It’s kind of just a general holidays/family type fic instead of following one prompt in particular, but Christmas in NYC and odd family...oddness could probably be blamed for at least some of it. I blame artemisrae for the idea of Sally loving Ella Fitzgerald’s Jingle Bells, so that detail was pretty much just borrowed without permission.
Also, my knowledge of Italian has been gleaned from Lady and the Tramp, Addams Family and Internet translators, so there are translations of what it’s supposed to say at the end.
“Are you sure you have everything?”
“Yes, Mamma, I’m sure.”
Nico blinked sleepily as Maria forced his arms through the sleeves of his coat, only half aware of the conversation she was having with Nonna. Bianca stood by the bag of gifts, clutching the doll Zia Cristina had given her earlier tightly to her chest with one hand and rubbing blearily at her eyes with the other while her mother finished buttoning up her brother’s clothes.
“Be careful going home, mia figlia” Nonna finished as Maria lifted Nico and reached for the bag. “The streets are icy.”
“Buona notte, Mamma,” Maria replied, kissing her mother’s cheek as she stepped out of the door.
The sharp cold of the December air was a harsh change from the peppermint and ginger scented warmth of Nonna’s apartment, and Nico squirmed against his mother’s chest, burying his nose in the crease between her neck and shoulder as the door shut behind them. The snow had stopped falling some time before, but the sidewalks were still icy and the wind was bitter where it found its way under their coats and gloves; even so, it wasn’t long before Nico was dozing fitfully in his mother’s arms, and by the time they’d reached their own apartment, even Bianca was swaying tiredly.
“Almost there, miei piccolini,” Maria promised, pressing a kiss to her son’s forehead as she turned her key in the lock.
Nico muttered in protest once they reached their room and Maria wrestled him out of his clothing and into his pajamas while Bianca dressed herself nearby, wanting nothing more than to curl up with his sister and his own gift - a stuffed toy dog - beneath their warm blankets and sleep.
“I know, Nico, I know,” she murmured as she snapped the last button shut on his nightshirt.
Bianca was in bed, still holding her new doll tightly, but Nico curled into her chest regardless, as he always did, and she pulled one arm free to wrap around his back as Maria handed Nico his dog, smiling as he wrapped one arm possessively around it, and pulled the blankets up to cover them.
“Buona notte,” she murmured, kissing each of their foreheads in turn. “Dormi bene e buon natale, miei piccoli.”
-
Nico grumbled in his sleep, rolling and burying his face in his pillow in a sleep induced haze; Bianca continued to sleep soundly next to him as the sound came again, drifting down the hall from the main room. He climbed out of bed, dragging the dog behind him by one ear, bare feet padding quietly on the cold floor as he wandered down the hall, following the sound of music from where Bing Crosby was crooning out of the Jackson-Bell sitting on the desk.
It took him a moment to recognize the tall figure dancing slowly with Maria in the middle of the room, her head tucked comfortably under his chin while they held each other and stepped together. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, still unnoticed by the couple as he stepped forward into the room.
“Papà?”
They stopped and turned to look at their son as he walked over to them and rubbed his eyes again.
“Nico,” Maria said, pulling away from Hades’ chest. “You should be sleeping, mio figlio.”
“I woke up,” he said, hugging his mother around her waist and staring up at Hades with wide eyes.
“Buon natale,” Hades greeted.
“Buon natale, Papà,” Nico said shyly, pressing into Maria’s skirt.
Maria bent to pick up him up as the next song began to play over the radio, the dog dangling awkwardly by its ear for a moment before she pulled it up for Nico to hold, and pressed against Hades as they began to dance again with the toddler clinging to her neck between them. The motion was soothing, nestled between his parents with Maria’s head tucked over his and pressed under Hades’ chin, rocking slowly from side to side in time with the music, and it wasn’t long before Nico’s jaw cracked open in a yawn. He shifted, nuzzling against his mother’s neck as his eyes dropped shut, swaying gently until the music and the dance finally lulled him back to sleep in his parents’ arms.
*
Sitting alone in Bianca’s dorm, Westover Hall was even creepier than it was during the school year, when the halls were full, but now, with nearly all of the students gone for the holidays, the emptiness of the school only added to its austerity. Given the circumstances, the holidays weren’t much to celebrate that year, but Bianca had managed to find a pair of candy canes which they had already split between them. The older di Angelo sibling held a small gift as well, carefully wrapped in pieces of hand decorated printer paper snuck from one of their classrooms, with Nico’s name printed meticulously in one corner.
Snow fell gently past the window, and as she handed Nico his present, she could just see the small snowman they’d built earlier smiling at them through a mouth built of pebbles. She had no doubt Dr. Thorn would tear it down the moment he saw it, but for the time being, it was one more thing to add to their makeshift holiday.
By the time she looked back to her brother, the paper was lying in shreds on the bed, and he was holding the Mythomagic Starter Kit she’d bought the last time they’d been allowed to go into the city like it was the most precious thing he’d ever set eyes on.
“Do you like it?” she asked. “I know it’s not much....”
Nico looked up at her and grinned widely, shifting so that he could press into her side and wrap his arm around her in a hug while maintaining his hold on the gift, like he was scared it would vanish if he didn’t hold on to it.
“It’s awesome,” he assured her, but his smile abruptly fell. “But I don’t have anything for you!”
“I don’t need any presents,” she said, and it’s cliched but it’s never been more true, even if it is coming from an eleven year old orphan girl. “Just as long as you’re happy and we’re together, that’s all I need.”
Nico gave her a look that clearly begged for her to cut the sap, because really, he may be her brother and she may be the only family he has left, but he’s a nine year old boy too, and on top of that he knows as well as she does that what they really need is a family again, someone to celebrate properly with, even if neither one of them wants to ruin the moment by admitting it.
Still, he was smiling as he pressed into her shoulder, and they were both smiling and laughing hours later when went outside to run around making snow angels and throwing snowballs at the windows even after Dr. Thorn found them and ordered them back inside, and Nico thinks that maybe Bianca was right, that maybe as long as they were together, they ‘d be able to manage, and everything would be as it should be.
*
After his exit from camp, where he watched the earth swallow the skeletons at his command, it wasn’t much of a surprise when the glimmering black helmet appeared over his head three days after Percy came back and Bianca didn’t.
“Son of Hades,” Minos smirked as he said it, as if they hadn’t known it already, and bent in a mock bow. “My lord.”
“Oh, shut up,” Nico frowned, and turned back to the pit, watching the last wisps of the spirit he’d summoned fade away back into the air.
It was Christmas Eve, he knew, but it was the sort of fact that had trickled into his mind as an afterthought and been dismissed as soon as it arrived; so far, all he’d received for Christmas was a dead sister and now his father claiming him as a formality, and with only the ghost of an ancient king as company, the holidays seemed like a minor detail in comparison.
“Why won’t she answer me?” he asked, kicking at a clump of dirt as the symbol over his head vanished completely.
“Perhaps it’s too soon,” Minos shrugged.
Nico crossed his arms and glared into the mess of soda and Big Macs floating in the bottom of the pit. Minos had found him the day after he’d run away from Percy, and he’d been trying to summon his sister ever since, but so far, all he’d managed to find was a large crowd of thirsty spirits for his trouble. In fact, other than Minos and the other ghosts of the dead, he hadn’t seen anyone since he’d left camp and stumbled across the opening to the Labyrinth.
He kicked at the clump of dirt again and scowled, because really, son of Hades or no, he’s only eleven and wandering around in the mythical Labyrinth with a dead king is only cool for the first day or so, and after that it’s only creepy and lonely. Christmas had always been something important for him, he knew - he couldn’t remember it, but he knew -- but when he was alone, it only felt like one more cut deepening the pain.
Nico stepped back against the back of a tombstone and slid to the ground, resting his forehead on his bent knees while Minos only sighed and vanished, leaving the son of Hades alone in the graveyard.
“This is not how my son should behave.”
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there when the voice cut through him, startling him. His head snapped up to stare at the tall, dark robed figure standing in front of him, and he scrambled to his feet awkwardly.
“I -“
“My son should not be pouting,” the man continued, folding his arms so that his hands disappeared into the folds of his robes. “He should be trying to set things right.”
He stared at Nico, daring him to argue, but the boy only stared, opening his mouth to say something and closing it again when he couldn’t find the words.
“Don’t do it again,” Hades finally said, and vanished almost before Nico had decided he was real in the first place.
He blinked, staring at the space the god had just been standing in, and rubbed his forehead tiredly, when the moonlight struck something lying in the grass where Hades had been.
Nico knelt and swore quietly when something sharp sliced his knee. There was a silver skull ring lying by his hand, and next to it was the long, flat shape of a sword blade, shiny black and razor sharp with a small, dark stain on the tip where he’d set his knee. He slipped the ring on his finger and stared at it as it glinted dully under what little light the moon offered before reaching for the sword, turning it and staring at his reflection in the black blade.
“I won’t, Dad,” he whispered.
*
“Come on, Nico! You can’t just sit around here and...do whatever it is you do! It’s Christmas!”
The son of Hades looked up from his book to where Percy was sprawled sideways across one of the spare beds, his face somewhere between begging and exasperated, and sighed. He dog-eared the page and closed the book with a snap, setting it aside and looked at Percy impatiently.
“If I say yes, will you go away?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“Besides, aren’t you getting a little old to just mope around camp during the holidays?” Percy continued like he hadn’t heard Nico’s question. “And Mom and Paul really want to see you, too.”
“N - wait, they do?”
“Duh,” Percy rolled to an upright position and rested his arms on the footboard of the bed. “Who do you think wanted me to invite you in the first place?”
Nico sighed again and uncrossed his arms, shoulders slumping in defeat.
“Fine,” he grumbled, trying to ignore Percy’s triumphant grin and failing. “What time is it tomorrow?”
-
The apartment was already warm with the smell of turkey and cinnamon and pine by the time Nico arrived, and Ella Fitzgerald’s Jingle Bells was ringing around the living room where Percy was sitting with a plate of cookies. Paul called a greeting from the kitchen as Sally opened the door, and Nico smiled in return as he hung up his snow flecked coat just in time for Sally to capture him in a hug around her pregnant stomach.
“It’s lovely to see you, dear,” she said, closing the door behind him. “Dinner should be ready any minute now, so you can just join Percy on the couch for a bit.”
Sally disappeared into the kitchen to help Paul while Nico collapsed on the couch next to Percy, stealing a cookie from the plate sitting on the coffee table, earning a squawk of protest and a brief scuffle over the cookies that remained before they settled down, leaning into each other comfortably while they reclined on the couch catching cookie crumbs with their chests until the oven timer announced the completion of the dinner bird.
“Percy, can you come help me with the turkey, please?” Paul called from the kitchen, his normally neat, professional appearance somewhat ruined by Sally’s apron and oven mitts.
Sally took Percy’s place on the couch as he left, sagging into the cushions with a sigh, and looked over at Nico.
“I’m glad Percy convinced you to come,” she said, one hand resting on her stomach. “It’s just been the three of us for Christmas since Percy and Annabeth split up. It’s nice having his other friends here, too.”
“Thanks for inviting me,” he said.
“Thank Percy,” Sally replied. “He was the one who suggested you come over in the first place; Paul and I are just glad to have you here.”
Nico glanced over to where Percy and Paul were struggling to pull the steaming turkey out of the oven without burning themselves or dropping it or falling over and only just barely kept from cocking his eyebrow. He’s still watching when they finally get the pan up on top of the stove and Percy looks up and catches his eye with a grin that spreads as soon as he reads the look on Nico’s face like he knows exactly what they were just talking about.
“Dinner’s ready!” Paul announced, oblivious to the boys as he cut into the turkey.
Nico helped Sally up off of the couch and they walked into the kitchen to fill their plates. Percy slipped behind Nico and nudged him with his shoulder while the son of Hades scooped a pile of mashed potatoes onto his plate, his grin still quirking the corners of his mouth.
“So I wanted you to be here tonight,” he said as they stepped sideways to make room for Sally to follow Paul out of the kitchen. “And to spend Christmas together. Is that really so bad?”
No, Nico thought, nudging Percy’s shoulder back with his own. No, it really isn’t.
mia figlia - my daughter
Buona notte - good night
miei piccolini - my pretty little ones
Buona notte...Dormi bene e buon natale, miei piccoli. - Good night...sleep tight, and merry Christmas, my little ones.
mio figlio - my son
Buon natale - Merry Christmas